Research over the last decade or more into efficient and reliable hydrocarbon recovery has led the industry to intelligent solutions to age old oil field (and other downhole industries) problems. Valving, sensing, computing, and other operations are being carried out downhole to the extent technology allows. Primary wellbores have “intelligent completion strings” installed therein that can zonally isolate portions of the well, variably control portions of the well and otherwise. These portions may be lateral legs of the well or different zones in the primary wellbore.
In multilateral wellbore structures, lateral legs can be very long and may pass through multiple producing and non-producing zones and may or may not be gravel packed. Both lateral legs and gravel packed zones, inter alia, create issues with regard to communication and control beyond these structures. Gravel packs have had communication pathways but they are difficult to align and work with; lateral legs are commonly controlled only at the junction with the primary wellbore because of difficulty in communicating past the junction.
Better communication beyond communication obstructing configurations would be beneficial to and well received by the hydrocarbon exploration and recovery industry.